American Electric Power (AEP) companies, Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (PSO) and Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO), are seeking regulatory approvals to purchase three wind farms, totaling 1,485 MW. These projects were selected after competitive Request for Proposals (RFPs) to procure low-cost wind generation options for PSO and SWEPCO customers.
Collectively, the three wind projects would provide more than 5.7 million megawatt-hours of new wind energy annually to serve customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The projects are currently under development by Invenergy in Oklahoma, and include:
- A 999-MW wind facility under construction north of Weatherford
- A 287-MW wind farm being built southwest of Enid
- A199-MW wind project being built south of Alva.
The 199-MW project is projected to be completed by the end of 2020. The other projects will be completed by the end of 2021.
If approved, total investment in the wind projects would be nearly $2 billion, inclusive of all costs. Adding this generation is expected to save SWEPCO and PSO customers about $3 billion, net of cost, over 30 years.
“AEP continues to add clean, renewable generation to our power plant fleet, driven by the expectations of our customers and technology advances,” said Nicholas K. Akins, AEP chairman, president and CEO. “Purchasing these wind facilities is consistent with our strategy of investing in the energy resources of the future, and it will save our customers money while providing significant economic benefits to local communities.”
If approved as proposed, SWEPCO would own 810 MW of wind generation, approximately 55% of the projects. PSO would own 675 MW of wind generation, approximately 45% of the projects.
The projects are subject to regulatory approvals in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, as well as from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The amount of generation acquired by PSO or SWEPCO can be scaled, subject to commercial limitations, to align with individual state resource needs as determined by the respective state commissions.
In addition to these projects, AEP recently added 724 MW of wind and battery generation to its contracted competitive portfolio and has proposed adding more than 9,100 MW of new wind and solar generation and nearly 2,300 MW of new natural gas generation to its regulated power plant fleet by 2030 to diversify its power production portfolio.
AEP already has cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 59% since 2000.
Filed Under: News, Projects
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